Ducati 1098R Page / 1 - Intro / 2 - Engine / 3 - Performance / 4 - Traction Control / 5 - Electronics/Chassis / 6 - Summary/Specs By, Trevor Hedge Desmosedici sourced digital instrumentation is fitted to the 1098R. No switches or buttons are on the display itself as all functions are selectable from the bars. A lap timer along with a huge range of other functionality is available on the display. Looking at it while riding is virtually impossible as your glance is taken too far away from the road for comfort. And with 186hp on tap you better be looking where you are going. Riders who take joy in exploring every possible aspect of their machine and are intrigued by technology will have no end of fun with the 1098R. After a big day of fun playing with the myriad of machine settings afforded by the traction control system the fun does not have to stop there. Load up the included Ducati Data Analyser software into your computer and you can relive your ride all over again. Simply unplug the USB card from the 1098R and load it up into your PC and you can check out a record of your throttle openings, speeds, rpm, gears selected, temps, distances and lap times. The data can be analysed via a time-lined graph so there is no end of the time you can spend tuning yourself to a standstill... Seriously though, hard core track day punters will find this system no end of help. A genuine race specification Ohlins twin-tube TTX shock and exquisite Titanium Nitride coated 43mm forks help keep the wheels in contact with terra firma while Brembo Monobloc callipers provide the stopping power. The 1098R proved very stable both under power and under brakes. The slipper clutch virtually eliminated all engine braking when hard on the anchors. Personally I would have liked some engine braking and would experiment a little with the adjustment available to reduce the amount of slip. Braking power was awesome but a really firm squeeze on the lever was needed in order to really bury the front Pirelli Supercorsa into the tarmac. Those accustomed to getting away with using one finger on some Japanese sportsbikes will have to adjust to using at least two on the 1098R. The suspension response is brilliant and not overly harsh in the vein of earlier Ducati sportsbikes. With more time to play I would have actually stiffened things up a little from the standard settings, just to make the machine a little more settled when getting on and off the brakes. That the machine is not a mobile haemorrhoid inducing vertebrae compactor was a wonderful revelation and suggests that the 1098R would prove just as much fun for a Sunday fang up your favourite set of bends as it would be on the track. As you would expect, the 1098R does not turn like a 600cc sportsbike, but it’s certainly much easier to ride than the Ducati sportsbikes of old and is far from a bastard of a thing to get on top of for those of us that are a bit soft and not overly aggressive with our inputs. I was actually half expecting the 1098R to require much more of a rider than I am in order for the machine to work properly, but was pleasantly surprised at how accessible the performance of the machine proved. Continue to Page 6...

Ducati 1098R (2008) - Review - Test
By, Trevor Hedge
Page / 1 - Intro / 2 - Engine / 3 - Performance / 4 - Traction Control / 5 - Electronics/Chassis / 6 - Summary/Specs